Liona had been very close to giving in to her omega, and she would have too if it hadn't been for that second knock on the door to her room. It had caused her and Erik to pause, and although she was struggling with her inner desire for more, before Erik could actually enter her body fully, he somehow snapped out of his alpha's mindset, like she had. He had recoiled so quickly that she had to go into damage control mode and convince him he wasn't hurting her, nor was what he had almost done in any way bad.
She reiterated she wanted him and would be glad to take that step with him, but they were not prepared for it. She reminded him that neither of them had any form of protection and if they wanted to go further; which she absolutely did; but their chances of conception would be astronomically high if they didn't take steps to prevent that. After their conversation, they had gotten up and taken a shower separately. She was sure that if they took a shower together that they would end up back in the same situation.
Erik couldn't believe how close he had been to violating Liona's trust in him. Still beating himself up over his near miss, he didn't fully understand how he could have gotten to where he wasn't aware of his actions. He felt a presence in his mind that had been goading him on, and he had been so close to giving in to that little voice. It was like he had been stuck in a fog and, although he could see through the fog, that fog limited his perception of his surroundings. After he cooled off with a cold shower in a separate room, he had a much clearer head, and joined Lia in the kitchen. She was pulling ingredients from the fridge and heating a pan on the stove.
They spent the day together walking along the beach, talking about what they wanted to do in the future, how and when they should bring up their relationship with Lia's parents, of which he was still hesitant, especially now that his family was literally being employed and supported by them. He promised that someday he would be okay with it and he didn't expect his mate to keep this a secret forever.
He tried to put a time frame on it to ease Lia's concern about keeping it from them forever. She gave valid points that if they wanted to progress their relationship to the point of engagement and marriage someday, she'd have to introduce him to them as her mate. Second, their secret might be revealed despite their efforts to keep it only among close friends.
By the time evening came around, with Alli and Chloe still in town, Liona figured it was time to make dinner. Not knowing if her friends would be back to join them, she made enough for them. When they did finally show up, they had a surprise for Erik and asked her to keep him occupied in another room while they put together a gift basket for his birthday. She loved her friend's thoughtfulness.
The next day was the Fourth of July. Erik's birthday. She had already called her parents and told them she and the girls were celebrating Erik's birthday instead of with the family, like she typically did every year. They accepted that she was old enough to make her own decisions about what holidays she spent with the family and made sure that she passed on their birthday wishes to him. As the evening drew near, and the sky was darkening, the sounds of fireworks in the distance started sounding off. She and the girls fired up the grill and put together shish-kebabs from the meat they had marinated overnight with teriyaki and combined with fruits and veggies.
Erik watched the flames of the grill light up with every drip of juices and appreciated the smell of the cooking food as wafted his way. The sky was darkening, and so far he was thrilled with his birthday this year. He had gotten birthday wishes not only from Liona but also from her two friends and her family passing along theirs. He would call this his best birthday ever. That was until nightfall. At nightfall, the large firework displays from the local public beach lit up the night sky close enough that he could appreciate the beauty of the colorful bursts up close for once.
As he was mesmerized by the fireworks, music drifted from hidden speakers around the bungalow's back deck, where he was waiting for dinner to be ready. Then one of Lia's friends took over the grill while his mate smiled and held out her hand to him. She was dressed beautifully in a red dress with tiny sequins that glittered in the light of the fireworks. He took her hand, and she swept him up in a dance as the sky lit up. As they danced, he felt an inexplicable urge to take her away from here and get her alone. He fought that feeling and tried to enjoy the night. After a moment, his mate stopped and had him look up at the fireworks with her. He didn't mind that so much, but the bursts were only so varied that it stopped being interesting pretty quickly.
Liona had planned this a month ago. She had paid for the local fireworks committee to arrange a special message for her mate on his birthday. So when the hour drew near, she swept her love into a dance and then watched the sky with him. Soon enough, the display she was waiting for burst into the air. "Happy 18th Birthday, Erik!" burst into existence one line at a time, perfectly timed to the music that was now playing across the speakers around the deck.
"Happy birthday, Er." Liona kissed him gently and sweetly, trying her best to hold back her desire to get him alone.
"Happy birthday, Erik!" Liona's friends chimed in together as well.
After dinner, Erik was presented with a gift basket and a bunch of balloons but was told he had to wait to open all of it. Items were separated into wrapped packages, each tied with a balloon. Opening the ones he was told to first, he was given a bunch of beach memorabilia and a couple of t-shirts. He laughed a bit, as he had never experienced anything like this in his life. The sand pail was a nice touch, he thought, since he had secretly wanted one as a kid. He thanked Lia's friends profusely, but they just smiled and told him to wait for Liona's present for him.
Liona was pulled aside shortly after dinner and handed a wrapped package. She was told she should put what was in it on for Erik tonight, after her friends headed for one of the other bungalows on the beach. She was curious about what it was, but waited.
Soon enough, it was time for dessert. Liona had not been privy to the cake's design and had been told that it was a secret until today. Well, now her friends brought it out and placed the candles on it, all eighteen. They replaced a couple of normal candles with trick candles and put a blooming flower candle in the center of the cake. It wasn't until it was being brought out for Erik and they sang to him that she saw fully what was written on the cake. She blushed a little and laughed at her friend's teasing.
Erik had never had a birthday cake before. This day just kept getting better and better. It wasn't until he tried to blow out the candles that he got a good look at the cake and blushed profusely at the cake's implication as Lia and her friends sang to him. Giving it his all, he blew out his candles and tried to make a wish to be happy with Liona forever. At least he tried to blow them out. A few of them kept re-lighting, no matter how much he tried to blow them out.
It was the giggles that cued him to the fact that these were not, in fact, meant to be blown out. Lia laughed as she removed the tricky candles and doused them in water to put them out. Then they had the cherry and chocolate cake. It was pretty good, even if it wasn't something he thought he would have picked as a flavor combination. He then realized he actually had an opinion about food and that it was a first. He pushed that thought away for later, since this was literally a gift he was being given and he couldn't be opinionated about it.
After the cake was served, Liona's friends cleaned up and ushered her into her room to change into the contents of the mysterious package. By the time she unwrapped it and got a good look at it, she was blushing profusely. She couldn't believe that things like this existed, let alone that people wore them! But it was obvious to her what her friends were trying to do. She was to give herself to Erik as his last birthday present. But that didn't solve the dilemma of being safe while doing so.
As she tried on the very revealing garments, a note fluttered out. She picked it up, and it simply said, "Have Erik open present Part B." It was Allison's handwriting. Super embarrassed about the lack of coverage this lingerie offered, she grabbed her silk bathrobe, also in red color, coincidentally, and covered herself to seek Erik.